Episode 33
She had a face perfectly suited to the image of a queen of a maritime kingdom. Her wavy, sea-colored hair flowed down to her waist, and her bright blue eyes shone like sapphires.
She vaguely resembled Narrein, so I found myself stealing glances at her face—then flinched in surprise.
Perhaps misinterpreting my reaction, she pointed at me with her finger.
“Don’t you think that child misspoke?”
“Uh… excuse me? What…?”
What did Mishi say wrong?
I only said that Ron helped me because… well, Ron did help me.
By the way, Mishi calls him Sir Ron.
Usually, people say Sir Metailer, Marquis, Captain, and so on. Hearing his name used like that felt really awkward…
Oh.
Only then did I realize what Mishi might have said wrong. But before I could explain, the Queen of Aint spoke first.
“She’s implying you have the status to call Sir Metailer by name. As far as I know, fewer than five people in the Empire hold such a rank.”
“Th-that’s…”
“The Emperor and Crown Prince would have blond hair, so you’re not one of them.”
“Well, that’s…”
I opened my mouth to somehow smooth things over, but every time I tried, she cut in with her own words.
Her sapphire eyes curved prettily as she smiled, but somehow that expression made me shiver involuntarily.
Then, with a voice full of certainty, she said:
“You must be the hidden Second Prince.”
“Ugh, so bright.”
After a long time in the underground office of the Imperial Palace, Orion squinted as he stepped back into the outside world.
Staff members he passed in the main palace hallways looked at him with puzzled expressions. He clearly wasn’t an ordinary employee, but he didn’t look like a noble they knew either.
It wasn’t until he reached the end of the hallway that a chamberlain finally recognized him and gasped, covering his mouth.
“That’s Marquis Orion!”
“I’ve already heard rumors that you’ve returned.”
“Given how many people stared at me on my way here, I’m sure the news has already spread.”
With an easygoing tone, Orion picked up one of the cookies the Crown Prince, Rozen, had offered.
Rozen watched him in silence for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.
“I know you’ll be busy getting back into politics, but there’s something I need you to do.”
“Information Bureau work?”
“That’s right. I’ll get straight to the point: the Second Prince is currently in the Kingdom of Aint.”
“What? Why on earth would the Second Prince be there?”
“You need to quietly and safely bring him back to the Empire through the Information Bureau’s agents.”
Orion frowned at the Crown Prince’s words, his face clearly saying, Why would the Second Prince be in Aint of all places, especially now?
Rozen explained the situation with another long sigh. That morning, Ron had burst into his office demanding to be sent to Aint immediately, and it had taken all of Rozen’s strength to talk him down.
In his heart, Rozen wanted to go himself. How could he sit still knowing his beloved younger sibling was there?
But as Crown Prince, he had to restrain himself. And yet the Captain of the Royal Knights had the nerve to lose his mind right in the Crown Prince’s office.
After hearing the full story, Marquis Orion asked in disbelief:
“How do people even make such stupid mistakes? What kind of training are you giving your staff?”
“No idea. Once Mishi gets back safely, I’m going to tear them all apart.”
Looking at the Crown Prince’s deadly expression, Orion narrowed his eyes.
The Second Prince aside, the reason the Captain of the Royal Knights had stormed into the Crown Prince’s office was because of a woman named Ail. What was so special about her? What made her name keep popping up everywhere?
Orion decided that once this mission was over and he was safely reinstated, he would investigate Ail further.
“Bringing him back is one thing, but it’ll take time. This time we got lucky—the warp zones on both ends happened to be active, so travel was possible. But as you know, Aint almost never uses warp zones. If I have to take a ship there, it’ll take at least a month. If they demand ransom, it could take even longer.”
“We can’t help that. Just make sure the news doesn’t spread. Publicly, Mishi is currently traveling south by carriage.”
“I understand. I’ll send some reliable men south as a diversion. By the way, when exactly am I returning to politics?”
Right now, the political world was buzzing over Marquis Orion’s return. After losing his daughter, he had shut himself away for nearly ten years, but now the Crown Prince had boldly announced that he would bring him back. Naturally, all eyes were on them.
This was a crucial test: if the Crown Prince succeeded, his position as the next Emperor would be secure; if he failed, the pro-Emperor faction would use it against him.
Of course, none of them knew that Marquis Orion had been secretly serving as the head of the Information Bureau under the Crown Prince all along.
“Oh, right. Uh… attend the next council meeting. I’ve kept your seat open.”
With an offhand tone, the Crown Prince flipped through his calendar and spoke as if it had only just occurred to him.
While the entire political world speculated about how the Crown Prince might persuade Orion to return, the actual decision was made in such an anticlimactic way.
Earlier, we had gone straight from the warp zone to a ship bound for the royal palace, so I hadn’t noticed. But now I could see it—Aint truly was beautiful. Islands lay scattered across the sea like stars in the night sky, connected like constellations. From any high vantage point, you could see the ocean and those stunning islands all around.
And I knew this because I was currently trapped in the tallest spire of the royal palace.
“Sigh…”
“Sorry, Ail.”
“No, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”
I tried to comfort Mishi, who was blaming herself for her slip of the tongue, while gazing out the window. The scenery was picture-perfect, but it didn’t make my heart flutter at all.
Because this was a prison.
Granted, it was spacious and well-furnished for a prison. There was a shared living room and separate bedrooms on either side, so Mishi and I had our privacy. Each room had a bed, a bathroom—everything we needed. And the meals were plentiful, filled with rare seafood I’d never seen before.
But no matter how nice it was, the iron bars on the windows were a constant reminder.
“Food’s here!”
While Mishi and I were wallowing in gloom, the locked door opened and a man entered. He had shaggy brown hair and smelled faintly of paper—a scholarly type.
After being here for just two days, I had already grown used to his face.
“Thanks, Parcel.”
“No problem, it’s my job. Oh, and I snuck some fruit out from the kitchen for you!”
This man, who clung to us like an overly friendly puppy, was named Parcel. At first, I thought he was a servant assigned by the Queen to bring us food, snacks, and bathwater, but it turned out he wasn’t a servant at all—just a palace employee.
According to him, he worked in the Royal Secretariat, though judging by how he acted, he was probably a low-ranking clerk. From the moment he first brought us food, he’d shown off his easygoing personality.
Parcel didn’t care that we were prisoners; he peppered us with questions and, finding out we were close in age, immediately suggested we be friends and dropped all formalities.
Well, if you’re feeling generous, you could call that sociability. Or maybe he was just a pure-hearted simpleton.
Still, no matter how harmless Parcel seemed, I didn’t let my guard down completely. That sunny smile could be part of an Aint scheme to extract information from us…
“This is good, right? These fruits only grow here. Ah—wait, I forgot the knife. What do I do? Maybe I’ll just use my nails?”
…Or maybe not.
I took the thick-skinned fruit from him before he could attempt anything foolish, pulled the pen from his pocket, and poked a hole in it. Sweet, fragrant juice oozed out. Wiggling the pen to widen the gap, I peeled the skin off like an orange. Parcel clapped excitedly, eyes shining.
…He might just be an actual idiot.
Either way, the snacks and fruit he brought were a nice treat, so I thanked him and popped a piece into my mouth. It was sweet, like mango, and delicious.
“Hey, Parcel, when do you think we can leave? Any word from the Empire?”
“Hmm… no idea. I’m not high-ranking enough to know that kind of information…”
Figures.
I gave up hope and focused on the fruit.
Parcel glanced at us as if worried we might be disappointed, then racked his brain for something to talk about.
The thing about Parcel was… he talked a lot. Like, a lot a lot. So much that every time he came, he’d ramble on about random topics until the sun set. Judging by his expression, he was currently thinking about what story to tell today.
Clap! His eyes lit up as he brought his hands together.
“How about I tell you about our monarch?”
“What? You mean the Queen of Aint?”
Was it really okay to talk about the monarch like that?
Especially to foreigners—and even to a prince?
Seeing my expression, Parcel waved his hands quickly.
“It’s not a secret. I wouldn’t dare to reveal the Queen’s secrets. This is just something everyone in the kingdom knows.”
“In that case… what is it?”
“It’s a little—no, a lot—sad. You see, ten years ago, Her Majesty lost her child. Our prince.”
Mishi and I listened intently as we nibbled the fruit Parcel had brought.
Tap.
Tap, tap.
Fingers drummed softly on white paper.
Lost in thought, Yen stared down at the sheet before him.
“Narein… Narein.”
On the paper was the information the Crown Prince had previously ordered him to gather on a new trainee knight.
Or rather, supposed information. All it contained were superficial details—name, age, gender.
Even if Narein was only a fourteen-year-old boy, born and raised in the Empire, it was strange to have so little data. No hometown, no friends, no family—nothing to grab onto.
